Tips on Collecting Stars’ Autographs

Collectibles can be both a rewarding hobby and a lucrative investment. While there are various different types of collectibles you can involve yourself in, if you want to ensure that your collectibles increase in value over time, you should make sure your collecting activities are going to be long-term. As such, you should concentrate your collecting on those past-times that you enjoy, rather than those you think will provide you with the greatest investment returns over time.

A collectible past-time that most of us enjoy as children is collecting autographs of famous persons (stars). Add to this the fact that stars autographs will likely increases in value over time, and you now have two of the essential elements of any collectible activity – fun and value. If this sounds like fun, but you don’t know how to go about starting your autograph collection, the following are some useful tips on collecting stars’ autographs:

1. Fan mail
Most famous people enjoy receiving fan mail. Almost all will take the time to reply to any fan mail you send them. As such, sending a famous person fan mail is normally one of the easiest and least inexpensive ways to obtain their autograph. If you want to try and increase your chances of getting a response from a star, you should also include a self-addressed envelope with your fan mail. One word of caution with fan mail, if you are writing to a star to get their autograph it is not good practice to let them know that you are an autograph hunter as this is generally frowned upon by stars that are resentful of fans asking for autographs which they later sell. Consequently, it is probably best to stick to the ‘fan mail’ story when asking for the autograph.

2. Hunt them down
Sometimes you can be in the right place at the right time and start will appear and will be wiling to give you their autograph. Other times you need to be a little more aggressive and read the newspapers and magazines to see if any start is going to be appearing in your local area, who you can the go and ask their autograph for. Either way, it is useful to remember that some stars do not like members of the general public coming up to them and invading their privacy by asking for an autograph. Indeed, some stars try to avoid this situation arising by hiring personal security. Consequently, you should always err on the cautious side by making sure the start is going to be happy with giving you the autograph, rather than just sticking a piece of paper and autograph book under their nose.

3. Buy them
Unfortunately some stars simply refuse to give autograph hunters their autograph. If you want to add such a star’s autograph to your autograph collection then your best bet may be to try and purchase the autograph on e-bay or a similar websites.

4. Swap them
Autograph hunting and collecting is a hobby enjoyed by millions of people around the world. With the increasing popularity of the internet, more and more forums are opening up where autograph collectors can chat among themselves about useful tips on how they obtain the autographs of certain stars. Sometimes you find that these forums have a section where autograph collectors are willing to swap an autograph they have for one you have. Consequently, if you are looking for an autograph to add to your collection and all other possibilities available for you to obtain it have failed; why not try swapping some of your autographs for the one you really want.